Chapter 222 Overthinking

Chapter 222 Overthinking

Calvin leaned back in his chair, laughing as he teased, "Maggie, you don't need to work so hard. From now on, staying by Luke's side, even if you wanted the stars from the sky, he'd pluck them down for you. Right, Luke?"

His tone was half-serious, half-joking, as if teasing but also testing the waters.

Maggie smiled slightly, too lazy to respond.

Calvin probably saw her as nothing more than a pretty face.

She could only stay by Luke's side, doing nothing, waiting for others to pluck stars and hand them to her.

She felt deeply disappointed.

After dinner, the group said their goodbyes at the restaurant entrance.

Calvin grabbed Luke's arm, earnestly advising, "Luke, travel abroad less often, don't neglect Maggie."

His tone was serious, not joking at all, as if afraid these two might break up.

Luke glanced at him sideways, his tone flat: "Mind your own business."

"Get lost."

Calvin wasn't offended. He smiled, got in the car with Henry, and drove off.

Only Luke and Maggie remained at the restaurant entrance.

The night breeze blew past, carrying early autumn's coolness.

She looked at Luke's profile, her lips moving slightly, wanting to bring up the matter between them.

But before she could speak, Luke spoke first.

"Want me to drive you home?"

Maggie paused, "No need, I drove here myself."

Luke nodded, "See you at the office tomorrow then."

Then he turned and walked toward his car.

The car door quickly closed.

Maggie stood there, watching the car rapidly disappear into the night.

She stood stunned, suddenly feeling a bit ridiculous.

The night breeze blew past, making her skirt flutter gently.

She didn't move, standing there for a long time.

It wasn't until a server from the restaurant came over asking if she needed a designated driver that she snapped out of it, shook her head, and walked toward her car.

She returned to the Nguyen Manor, where the living room lights were still on.

Hannah sat on the sofa, immediately turning her head at the sound of the door. Seeing her come in, she asked urgently, "Maggie, how did it go? Did you bring up marriage with Mr. Miller today?"

Maggie changed her shoes, walked into the living room, and sat down on the sofa, her voice somewhat dry, "Before I could say anything, he left."

Hannah's hand paused, and she sighed.

Eleanor sat nearby, put down her bag of chips, and consoled, "Maggie, don't overthink it. Mr. Miller is probably just too busy, give him some time."

Hannah quickly chimed in, "Yes, Mr. Miller has feelings for you, he's just been busy lately, don't take it to heart."

Maggie just nodded wearily, saying nothing.

Suddenly, she turned to look at Benjamin.

"Uncle Benjamin, I need to talk to you about something."

"What is it?" Benjamin looked at her.

"BlueSky Biotech has been losing money badly lately, to the point where I'm investing my own money. Help me prepare some funds to inject into BlueSky Biotech when the time comes."

Benjamin's hand holding the coffee cup stopped, his brow furrowing.

The atmosphere became somewhat awkward.

Eleanor, quick to speak, said directly, "Maggie, can't you just ask Mr. Miller? After all, he gave you the company in the first place, so if there's a problem, he should take responsibility. If you ask him, how could he refuse?"

Maggie's expression darkened immediately.

"I'm already inferior to Evelyn in every way. If I ask Luke for money on top of that, won't that make him look down on me completely?"

Her voice echoed in the quiet living room, carrying long-suppressed anger and grievance.

Eleanor was startled by her tone and quickly changed her tune, her voice softening, "Maggie, don't be angry, I didn't think it through. You're right, we can't keep going to him."

Benjamin put down his coffee cup and sighed, his tone carrying some helplessness.

"Maggie, it's not that I won't help you. The company's accounts only have enough money to keep Nguyen Tech Group running, there's nothing to spare. Hold on a bit longer, we'll talk when things are more comfortable."

He thought for a moment, hesitating, "Otherwise, why don't you sell those jewels Mr. Miller gave you before? You could easily get several hundred million dollars for them."

"No." Maggie said firmly.

Those were gifts from Luke, she couldn't sell them.

She stood up, her tone carrying weariness and irritation, "I'm tired, going upstairs to rest. I'll figure out the company matters myself."

The establishment of Sentience BioTech kept Evelyn busy for a long time.

The new company's office location, staff recruitment, and partnership negotiations all required her personal oversight.

Plus, several ongoing projects at OmniFront Labs were progressing simultaneously, keeping her working around the clock for over a month.

During this time, Luke called her several times.

Each time she saw his name flashing on the screen, she hung up directly.

She never answered once.

This day, Evelyn was reviewing the first batch of partnership proposals for Sentience BioTech in her office when her phone suddenly rang.

It was a video call from Andy.

She hesitated, but still answered.

"Mommy!" Andy's voice immediately came through the speaker, "Will you take me out to play? I haven't seen you in so long, I miss you so much."

His voice was adorable, carrying a hint of wheedling.

Evelyn leaned back and asked, "Where does Andy want to go?"

Andy thought for a moment and said, "I know a really pretty place called Lake Ridge Park. Other kids' mommies all took them camping there, I want to go too. Mommy, please take me, pretty please, you're the best mommy in the world."

He spoke faster and faster, as if afraid Evelyn wouldn't agree.

Evelyn was silent for a few seconds, looking at the mountain of documents on her desk, then at the rare autumn sunshine outside the window.

She sighed inwardly.

She nodded, "Okay, this weekend then. I'll come pick you up."

Andy cheered on the other end, excitedly shouting, "Mommy's the best!"

Then he hung up.

On the weekend, Evelyn drove to the Miller Manor to pick up Andy and headed toward Lake Ridge Park.

Lake Ridge Park in autumn was a riot of colors, red, yellow, and green interwoven like a vivid oil painting.

Evelyn found a flat patch of grass, parked the car, took the tent and equipment out of the trunk, and started setting up.

Andy helped by handing her tent stakes. After passing two, he started fooling around, taking the hammer and randomly tapping it on the ground.

Evelyn was crouching down securing the tent's corners when she suddenly heard a car engine behind her.

She didn't turn around, assuming it was other campers.

But the footsteps grew closer, and a pair of dark brown leather shoes suddenly entered her peripheral vision.

She looked up to see Luke standing before her, carrying a large outdoor backpack.

Evelyn straightened up, frowning, "What are you doing here?"

Before Luke could answer, Andy poked his head out from behind the tent, grinning, "Mommy, I asked Daddy to come. I was worried it wouldn't be safe at night, but with Daddy here we don't have to worry."

His reason seemed legitimate enough.

Except his eyes looking at Luke were full of smugness.

Evelyn looked at his expression, as if seeing through something, but didn't rush to expose it.

She crouched down and continued setting up the tent.

Luke bent down, picked up a support pole from the other side, and started setting up his own tent.

The two set up their respective tents, neither speaking, like two parallel lines extending separately across the grass.

Evelyn finished setting up her tent, dusted off her hands, and said to Andy, "I'm going to gather some firewood, you stay here."

She turned and walked deeper into the woods.

Autumn leaves covered the ground, rustling underfoot. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, painting scattered patches of light and shadow on the ground.

She bent down to pick up a few dead branches, holding them in her arms.

"Hey beautiful, camping alone?" a voice came from nearby.